Bubbles
by something-wild-cat
Summary: "And here's to the knowledge that one of us will emerge victorious." — The night before the Games, the Career tributes assemble to have a toast. — One Shot.


_Summary: The night before the Games, the Career tributes assemble to have a toast._

 _Disclaimer: The Hunger Games is not mine, and never will be._

 _Just a little unbeta'd short I wrote for the release of Mockingjay Part II._

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 **BUBBLES**

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It's pretty obvious when District One is right around the corner, the high-pitched giggles of the girl reaching the door long before they even appear.

"What, you already drunk? And we haven't even opened the champagne," District Two rolls his eyes, reaching behind the bed to pull out a bottle of the stuff.

"We're not here to get drunk. The last thing we need is to be hungover in the morning," his partner chides gently, from her position sitting cross-legged at the head of the bed.

Still arm in arm, the two District One tributes hop onto the foot of the bed, where the girl promptly leans into the boy's arm, smiling like the biggest flirt the world has ever seen. (She probably is.) Two's male makes a mental note to himself to never express any form of romantic interest towards girls from One.

He sends a glance and another roll of the eyes towards his partner, who flips over onto her stomach, to grab the knife she keeps by her bedside out of instinct. Instead of making up some witty response for the Ones' display of affection, he simply reaches for the bottle opener.

There are six glasses set up in perfect formation on a tray in the middle of the bed; District Two requested them from an Avox earlier. (They'd gotten the champagne from the District One mentor; apparently this was a tradition. They'd only decided to do it because having a sort-of-secret meeting at midnight seemed fun.) There's a pop as the champagne is opened, and then they all fall silent, watching as the male from Two pours the drinks.

"Let's make this quick," the girl from One murmurs, in that shamelessly flirty whine that she uses only around Two (His partner hates it, he knew, but he puts up with it. Mostly because to tell One to stop means starting a much louder whine in his direction), and the District Two tributes share another glance.

"Where's Four? They should have been here a while ago." The boy from One checks his watch: twenty past eleven. Not late by any means, but certainly so if they were to be rested for tomorrow.

His partner crawls over, plucking the first glass from the tray before anyone else could take one. "Whether they show up or not, I get this one." She taps the crystal with her nails. "Oh, this is the good kind of crystal. The best for wine glasses. I love this stuff."

A few minutes of waiting came after her comment, before a slight movement from the doorway causes them to look up, and then a swift, graceful breeze shifts the sheets.

"Don't even think about calling it fashionably late," the girl from Two snaps, reaching over to grab two glasses with an exasperated "Finally, you're here" look on her face, and handing one to her partner. "'Cause you are far from fashionable."

The girl from Four flips her hair over her shoulder as she sits down on the bed next to the Twos, attempting a confident glare. Was it just his imagination, the boy from Two thinks, or was every female tribute playing up the sexy this year? Thank God his partner seems normal. (He takes back his earlier thought. District One may have competition as the most flirty one here.)

"You'd think you were from One, with all the attention you give your face," Two sends a half-playful jibe at her, her only response being, "Well, at least we know that beauty isn't centred in a single district. And it was fashionably late, thank you," she adds, sending a pointed glare in the girl from Two's direction.

"Let's get this over with, shall we?" The boy from Four picks up his own glass, his partner following a few seconds behind. The boy from One is last to take a glass, holding it up to the dim light above them and staring at the bubbles for a moment. "Man, I could have sworn I recognised the brand."

The boy from Two scoffs, raising his own glass. "So here we go."

They go in interview order; in order of districts, girl first, then boy, the way they'd decided earlier in the day.

The girl from One grins, taking a sip of champagne along with the rest of them. "Here's to us, spending all of our lives training for this moment."

The boy from One follows up with a, "Here's to all of the other tributes, for taking part in these Games when they know they have absolutely no chance of winning."

The girl from Two shrugs. Her toast was slightly more pessimistic, her partner thought, but then again she had always been a bit of a realist. "Here's to the hope that we all make it through the first day."

He shakes his head, laughing quietly for a moment before continuing her toast, in an attempt to make hers sound more positive. "Here's to the hope that the other tributes will be easy to kill."

The girl from Four runs a hand through her hair. (Both tributes from Two wish she'd stop; it's more annoying than anything else.) With a lip-gloss-stained champagne glass, she really does look like she could be from One. She nods in approval at the boy from Two's toast before making her own. "Here's to our sponsors, because they know we'll win."

The boy from Four hesitates, staring into his nearly empty glass before saying what was expected of him. "And here's to the knowledge that one of us will emerge victorious."

The boy from Two smirks as they drank again. "Happy Hunger Games."

His partner clinks her glass with his before finishing it off. "And may the odds be ever in our favour."

They finish off the bottle of champagne - between the six of them they decide it isn't too much - and leave the tray outside the room for an Avox to collect, and after a while of talking, the boy from One checks his watch. Finding it to be nearly one in the morning, he and his partner take their leave, departing the way they had come (only slightly more drunk), with the girl hanging off the boy's arm, and her giggles apparent even as they were far down the hall. The girl from Four spends a little while flirting with the boy from Two (District One was definitely no longer the flirty one), before her own partner coaxes her out of the room, much to the pleasure of the girl from Two, who spends much of the time scowling and sleepily rubbing her eyes.

The boy from Two slips out of the room when he was sure she had fallen asleep, well after one in the morning. He hopes they all get enough sleep, because they all have a game to win.


End file.
